G.I. Combat Vol 1 285
** ** ** ** ** Supporting Characters: ** Antagonists: * Professor Voss * Leutnant Reicker * German Artillery soldiers Other Characters: * American Infantry soldiers Locations: * Items: * Gas grenades * Serum "Z" hallucinatory drug Vehicles: * * Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger tank | StoryTitle2 = This War Must Wait | Synopsis2 = Deep in Oklahoma's Ozark foothills, a group of American G.I.s are unloaded from a truck on a top secret mission. For long, sweaty hours they are trudged over narrow, rocky terrain until their reach their objective - a farm hidden deep in the mountains. There, the soldiers are informed that they have been assigned to a new outfit, the 441st Muleteer Company. The men are shocked as their new steeds are marched out before them, some of them have never even seen a mule in their lives. The men train hard to get used to their new mules, but one soldier, Private Walt Schaeffer just can't seem to get the hang of his mule named Homer. In frustration, he kicks Homer in the rear, only to have Homer kick him back. As the other men laugh at him, the captain tells him to remember the lesson he's learned there. A mule is only as stubborn as his master, and that if he treats Homer gently he'll be your friend for life. In the weeks ahead, a strong bond begins to grow between Pvt. Schaeffer and Homer. He feeds it, waters it, and grooms it every day, but still Homer refuses to do the work needed of him. The captain tells Schaeffer that there's only one thing that can be done when an animal gets that stubborn, that is to shoot it. Schaeffer pleads with the captain to give him another chance to train Homer to do the job, and finally the captain gives in. But on their return to camp they are given the orders to ship out. A few nights later, on board the troop ship heading for Sicily, Schaeffer worries about Homer should he be killed. One week later, in the narrow mountain passes in Sicily, the mules are loaded up with supplies and readied to begin the trek to the other side where the Infantry awaits. Homer begins to bray loudly. The Sergeant tries to shut him up, but Schaeffer thinks that Homer is trying to tell them something. Home has spotted a squad of German soldiers setting up a machine gun on top of the hill, and the Americans begin to scatter for cover. However, Homer refuses to budge from the road. Schaeffer tries to get him to move, and the Sergeant moves up to shoot the mule. Schaeffer jumps on top of Homer, kicking him in the shins. Homer bolts off straight for the Germans, throwing Schaeffer off and to the ground. The Germans try to kill the mule with the machine gun, firing into the crates on Homer's back. Homer and his crates explode, killing the Germans and destroying the machine gun. The mule was carrying a crate full of mortar shells, set off by the machine gun fire. The men realize that they all own their lives to Homer, and if the Army gave medals to mules he'd sure have earned one! | Editor2_1 = | Writer2_1 = George Kashdan | Penciler2_1 = Diego Navarro | Inker2_1 = | Colourist2_1 = Jerry Serpe | Letterer2_1 = Hector Formento | Appearing2 = Featured Characters: * Private Walt Schaeffer * Homer the Mule Supporting Characters: * American Infantry captain * American Infantry sergeant Antagonists: * German Infantry soldiers Other Characters: * American Infantry soldiers Locations: * The Ozarks, * Sicily, Items: * Mortar shells Vehicles: * American troopship | Notes = * In the Editor's Note on page 16 of this issue, editor Murray Boltinoff tells the readers that they have many new Haunted Tank stories coming in the future. The first mentioned, "Out of this War" appears in the final issue of the series, issue #288. The second story mentioned, "Shootout on Skull Mountain" appears in issue #287. He also mentions two more Mercenaries stories "Devil Dust" and "Dead Winner", both of which appear in issue #286. However, he also makes mention of a third Haunted Tank story scripted and awaiting return from artist Sam Glanzman, "Who Lives, Who Dies", as well as new Kana story "The Ninja Who Would Be Emperor" and two new stories featuring the Bravos, "Big Red" and "The Grunt Who Quit the War". None of these future stories would see print, as readers would find the G.I. Combat series cancelled three issues later. | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }}